Generally, the widely-used peripheral input device of a computer system includes for example a mouse device, a keyboard, a trackball device, or the like. Via the keyboard, characters and symbols can be inputted into the computer system directly. As a consequence, most users and most manufacturers of input devices pay much attention to the development of keyboards. The subject of the present invention is related to a keyboard.
FIG. 1 is a schematic top view illustrating the outer appearance of a conventional keyboard. As shown in FIG. 1, there are plural keys 10 on a surface of the conventional keyboard 1. These keys 10 are classified into several types, e.g. ordinary keys 101, numeric keys 102 and function keys 103. When one of these keys 10 is pressed down by the user's finger, a corresponding signal is issued to the computer, and thus the computer executes a function corresponding to the pressed key. For example, when an ordinary key 101 is pressed down, a corresponding English letter or symbol is inputted into the computer. When a numeric key 102 is pressed down, a corresponding number is inputted into the computer. In addition, the function keys 103 (F1˜F12) can be programmed to provide various functions. For example, the conventional keyboard 1 is a keyboard for a notebook computer.
With the maturity of the computing technologies, the keyboard manufacturers make efforts in designing novel keyboards with special functions in order to meet diversified requirements of different users. For this reason, luminous keyboards are favored by users. Hereinafter, the inner structure of the luminous keyboard will be illustrated in more details. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional luminous keyboard. As shown in FIG. 2, the conventional luminous keyboard 2 comprises plural keys 20, a membrane switch circuit member 21, a light guide plate 22, a light-emitting element 23, a supporting plate 24 and an illumination circuit board 25. For succinctness, only one key 20 is shown in the drawing. Each key 20 comprises a keycap 201, a scissors-type connecting element 202 and an elastic element 203. From top to bottom, the keycap 201, the scissors-type connecting element 202, the elastic element 203, the membrane switch circuit member 21 and the supporting plate 24 of the conventional luminous keyboard 2 are sequentially shown. The light-emitting element 23 and the illumination circuit board 25 are located beside a lateral side of the membrane switch circuit member 21. For example, the conventional luminous keyboard 2 is a keyboard for a notebook computer (not shown).
In the key 20, the keycap 201 is exposed outside the conventional luminous keyboard 2. Consequently, the keycap 201 can be pressed down by the user. The keycap 201 and the supporting plate 24 are connected with each other through the scissors-type connecting element 202. The elastic element 203 is penetrated through the scissors-type connecting element 202. In addition, both ends of the elastic element 203 are contacted with the keycap 201 and the membrane switch circuit member 21, respectively. When the membrane switch circuit member 21 is pushed by the elastic element 203, a key signal is generated. The illumination circuit board 25 is located beside a lateral side of the membrane switch circuit member 21. The light-emitting element 23 is installed on the illumination circuit board 25. The light-emitting element 23 emits a light beam B to the light guide plate 22. The light guide plate 22 is used for guiding the light beam B to the keycap 201. For example, the light-emitting element 23 is a side-view light emitting diode.
As shown in FIG. 2, the keycap 201 has a light-transmissible region 2011. The light-transmissible region 2011 is exposed to the top surface of the keycap 201. That is, the light-transmissible region 2011 is a character shown on the keycap 201. Moreover, the light guide plate 22 comprises light-guiding dots 221. The light-guiding dots 221 are aligned with the light-transmissible region 2011 and located under the light-transmissible region 2011. After the light beam B from the light-emitting element 23 is introduced into the light guide plate 22, the light beam B is subjected to total internal reflection within the light guide plate 22. When the light beam B is projected on the light-guiding dots 221, the total internal reflection of the light beam B is destroyed by the light-guiding dots 221, and the light beam B is guided to the light-transmissible region 2011 of the keycap 201 by the light-guiding dots 221. Consequently, the light-transmissible region 2011 is illuminated.
As the technology of the luminous keyboard is gradually mature, the demands on the luminous keyboard are diversified. For example, before the user plays the computer game, the computer game performs a network connecting operation, a game data downloading operation or any other default operation. Then, the luminous keyboard is in a default luminous mode. In the luminous mode, the light-emitting elements in the luminous keyboard provide flickering effects. Consequently, a light show is provided to be watched by the user. However, since the fashions of the light show provided by the luminous keyboard are limited, the light shown is usually tedious to the user.
Therefore, there is a need of providing a luminous keyboard capable of providing the function of amusement.